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Dalai Lama Arrives in Patna to Participate in Buddhist Meet

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Patna: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived in Patna by an Air India flight on Thursday to take part in the three-day International Buddhist Conference that commences at the local Buddha Smriti Park on January 5.

The Buddhist leader was welcomed at the Patna Airport by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who presented him a bouquet in the presence of a host of top government officials. The Dalai Lama blessed the Chief Minister and presented him a Tibetan shawl used by the monks.

On Friday, the Dalai Lama would unveil a statue of Lord Buddha located between the two trees planted from the saplings of the Bodhi Trees in Bodh Gaya and Sri Lanka after which he would offer a prayer at the Bodhi Tree planted at the official residence of Nitish Kumar at 1 Anne Marg.

The convention has been organized jointly by the Bihar Art and Culture Department and the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee. Over 1500 delegates from a number of countries, including Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, are expected to participate in the three-day event.

The Dalai Lama said that he would come to Bihar each year in January and participate in mass to be organized by the state government.

State Tourism Minister Sunil Kumar Pintu said that the event will be inaugurated at 1:30 pm on Saturday with Nitish Kumar being the chief guest for the program.